175 indoor concerts (announced April 26) spread over 15 series and
presented in 11 venues in and around the Quartier du Spectacles. From intimate
showrooms to prestigious concert halls, the FIJM will be host to a vast array
of musical names – young artists on the rise, those at their peaks, and
finally, legends of jazz.

Avant Gout:
Artists from whom I received a physical copy (CD or vinyl) over the previous year and are performing during this year's festival. A short commentary and biography will be written in this section.

- a Montreal based quintet that superbly fuses Haitian
Creole with contemporary jazz fusion. The highly obvious virtuosity
of the musicians also suggests a classical element in their music.
The band formed in 2006 and consists of David Bontemps (piano),
Cydric Féréol (percussion and gwo ka), Jude Deslouches (guitar and
lead vocals), Nicolas Bédard (double bass ) and Emmanuel
Delly (congas and Haitian percussion).

A
bit of boogie-woogie piano with elements of Jerry Lee Lewis to start
off the Jazz Festival. He plays in a cabaret lounge-style and his
enthusiasm is contagious. Catch him with his band on July 4 @ 17:00
on the same outdoor stage (corner of Ste-Catherine and de Bleury).

Opening
of the Galerie
Lounge TD, situated in the
exhibition
hall of the Espace Culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme in Place des Arts.
Featured exhibit: Montréal
Couleurs Séparées
by Montreal artist Carl-Antonyn
Dufault.
Twenty photomontages demonstrating the impact of the passage of time
on the identity of a place. Various scenes of Montreal landscape
contrasting day and night views. Two pieces – created exclusively
for this event – focus on the Quartier des Spectacles and the
Festival crowd.

Accompanied by Kate Wyatt on piano, Adrian Vedady on double bass and Louis-Vincent Hamel on drums, Lisanne performs her spirited, melodic and inventive compositions with such virtuosity and pasion that should put her on the same level of such luminaries as Stéphane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty and Didier Lockwood. She is the first violinist to graduate from McGill University's Jazz Performance and also the first to teach there.

A well-balanced mix of his own compositions and well-known standards, as saxophonist Chris Potter took the audience on a fascinating and adventurous eight-part musical journey. Solidly accompanied by Marcus Gilmore on drums and Joe Martin on bass, the music was hard-driving and straightforward. The first track was a positively surprising original take on Synchronicity by The Police.

Maz is a quartet that gives a unique twist to Quebec traditional music by infusing it with elements of progressive rock and jazz. Basically an instrumental ensemble, the music of Maz shows strong influences of Gentle Giant, David Grisman and Dixie Dregs. The members of Maz are: Marc Maziade (electric guitar, banjo, foot percussion and programming), Pierre-Olivier Dufresne (violin, mandolin and foot percussion),

The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, founded (in 1982) and directed by Trevor W. Payne, is considered one of the world's finest choirs. Last night's concert that turned the exquisite Maison Symphonique into a house of worship, certainly confirmed their status. Even with 'my broken body' I was moved to stand up from my seat during the rousing songs, clap my hands and swing my legs in giving praise to the 'King of kings.' Overall, I felt His presence. The highlights (essentially it was the whole show) were instrumental renditions of two Ray Charles songs, the solos (both vocal and instrumental) and a rousing rendition of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus' to conclude this marvelous evening. This was the Choir's twelfth appearance at the Jazz Festival.

A visually symphonic evening with singers Antonio Figueroa, Katherine Guthrie and Lyne Fortin against the backdrop of a new film directed by Francesco Vezzoli. This performance consisted of excerpts from the original opera which is about a day in the life of an aging opera singer. Loved the music but I didn't quite understand the film. The movements in the film did not match the dynamics of the libretto and the music.

Rufus presents orchestral interpretations of his greatest hits. He comes across as a flamboyant Billy Joel. The stylings of his singing and his piano playing would work well as an extravagantly produced Broadway musical.

Double bassist Michel Donato (born 1942) has been active on the Montreal jazz scene since the early 1960s. For this concert, he has invited six young talents to perform with him on stage. At first in a duo with him, secondly in two trio formations – firstly sax, trumpet and trombone, secondly bass, guitar and drums – and lastly as a sextet. Here are the six, listed in the order of their duets with Donato:

Student at the University of Montreal / Étudiant à l'université de Montreal),
Felix Tellier Pouliot - guitar / guitar
A graduate of Concordia University / Diplômé de l'université Concordia),
Vincent P. Ravary - drums / batterie
A graduate of the University of Montreal / Diplômé de l'université de Montreal),

Jonathan Arseneau - electric bass / basse électrique
A graduate of the University of Montreal / Diplômé de l'université de Montreal)

Arseneau also performed an amazing solo. Of the six he showed the most promise, performing well in all formations. Although their inexperience did manifest itself in part, all six do show promise at becoming the future stars of their generation. The weakest of the six was the drummer, Vincent. He seemed to be a little more nervous than the others and had a distracting grunt when he played.

Accompanied by John Roney on piano, André White on drums and Ron di Lauro on trumpet, with special guests, vocalist Sonia Johnson and saxophonist Samuel Blais, Alarie takes us on a voyage back through time to explore the game-changing sounds of influential double bassist Scott Lafaro (1936-1961). His approach to playing redefined the double bass in jazz and opened up many new possibilities. All of this was accomplished in a period of only six years. His career came to a tragic end on July 6, 1961, when he was killed in an automobile accident. Yet, as Alarie superbly shows, the spirit of Scott Lafaro lives on in his bass.

Accompanied by Fréderic Alarie on double bass, John Roney on piano, André White on drums and saxophonist Janis Stephrans, trumpeter Ron di Lauro delves into the repertoire of legendary trumpeter Chet Baker (1929-1988). Discographical information abounded and Ron even sang (supposedly for the first time) on four of the twelve tracks. The most moving segment of the concert was at the end of My Funny Valentine, when Ron, John and Fred played along to Baker's final recording. Another highlight was the encore when Ron and John recreated a legendary duet between Baker and pianist Paul Bley.

Armed with only his guitar and his tremulous, honey baritone voice (with its heavy Australian accent), Archer weaves his often humorous stories of the country's valleys, mountain ranges and its people. He is a true vagabond, weathered by the countless mileage under his heels.

Songs in the Dark (released November 2015) is the first album by half sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche. It includes
lullabies that their mothers Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche sang to
them as children, plus songs by Woody Guthrie, Jimmie Rogers, and
their father Loudon Wainwright III. It is very clear that the musical
heritage of the Wainwright-McGarrigle clan runs deep in their veins
and those of their brother Rufus as well. Will it continue in the
next generation? Could be; as evidenced when Martha's eldest son
Archangelo came out on stage wielding a violin case almost as big as
he was. After he took it out, he waited for his mother's cue, all the
while struggling to remain seated on his stool and holding the
violin. A memorable and touching moment. As for the sisters, their
harmonies were in perfect synch. And if I had heard them on the
radio, I would have assumed they were Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

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Nancy Snipper is also an accomplished singer/songwriter – banjo player and classical pianist. Her three CDs have garnered much media praise along with her performances (Canada, Mexico, Cuba). Her voice is astoundingly beautiful – velvety in her blues numbers, sensual and sizzling in her folk, rock and country compositions. Now you can own one of her CDs. For enquiries about owning her CDs and/or booking performances contact her at this email: hovecreekproductions@gmail.com. Her CDs help raise money for cancer research.

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Collaborators / Collaborateurs:

Sylvain Richard

Nancy Snipper

Note / Nota:

July 10, 2016:The beginning of a new and exciting chapter! Nancy Snipper's (a.k.a S.N.) first posting on her own blog: http://sntravelandartswithoutborders.blogspot.ca/**********************************************To see all articles on a specific topic, scroll down to LABELS and click on desired LABEL. Full articles will appear one after the other that pertain to that label.Keep scrolling down to view more articles, and at end of page, click on OLDER POSTS to read more.Enjoy!